For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
September 30, 2003

Remarks by the President at Bush-Cheney 2004 Reception
Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Towers
Chicago, Illinois

12:30 P.M. CDT

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all very much. Thanks for coming.
Please be seated. Thanks for the warm welcome. I always love coming
to the great city of Chicago. It's really one of the great cities in
our country. I was here last summer, and I'm really happy the baseball
season is still going on. (Applause.) It's exciting for the citizens
of this city to know that the Cubs are still alive and kicking.
(Applause.) I wish you all the best.

Thanks for your help. What we're doing today is laying the
groundwork, putting down the foundation for what is going to be a great
national victory in November of 2004. (Applause.) I appreciate your
generosity. I want to thank you for your hard work. I thank you for
your contributions, but I'm going to call on you to do more. I'm going
to ask you to go to your coffee shops and drug stores and community
centers and remind the people that this administration has got a
message that is positive and hopeful and optimistic for every single
American. (Applause.)

I'm getting ready and I'm loosening up. But there's a time for
politics. This political season will come in its own time. Right now
I'm focused on doing the people's business. I've got a job to do, and
there's a lot on the agenda. I will continue to work hard to earn the
confidence of every American by keeping this nation strong and secure,
prosperous and free. (Applause.)

I want to thank Pat Ryan and all those who worked hard to put this
event on. It is a fantastic turnout, and I understand how much work
goes into a successful lunch like today and I really thank you a lot.
I appreciate your leadership, Pat.

I'm also honored to be introduced by the great Speaker of the
House, Denny Hastert. He's truly one of the greats. (Applause.) I
really do enjoy working with Denny. He's a no-nonsense kind of
fellow. He looks you in the eye and tells you what he believes. And
that's refreshing in Washington, D.C., by the way. He cares a lot
about the people of his district, the people of this state, and he
loves his country. And like me, he married above himself.
(Laughter.) And I'm glad Jean is here with us today, as well.

Speaking about wives, I notice Laura was doing a little diplomacy
today. (Laughter.) I'm really proud of her. She is a fabulous woman,
a great mom, a great wife, and a terrific First Lady for the people of
this country. (Applause.)

I'm honored, as well, that members of the Illinois congressional
delegation are here. I want to thank them for their hard work on
behalf of this state, and for helping out at this fundraiser today --
Mark Kirk, Phil Crane -- (applause) -- Congressman Crane is with us.
Judy Biggert is with us. Dan Manzullo is with us. John Shimkus is
with us. I appreciate you all coming, and I'm honored to call you
friend. (Applause.)

We had a member -- a meeting of the former governors club behind
the stage here. And I'm a member. It was good to see two other
members -- that would be Jim Edgar and Jim Thompson. And I'm honored
they're here. I'm proud to call them friend. (Applause.) I want to
thank Bob Kjellander who is the national committeeman from this state;
and Mary Jo Arndt who is the national committeewoman. (Applause.) I
want to thank all the grass-roots activists. (Applause.) I'm glad to
know Mary Joe brought her family with her. (Laughter.) I want to
thank my friend, Mercer Reynolds, who is a Cincinnati businessman who
is ny national finance chairman. But most of all, I want to thank you
all for coming.

In the last two-and-a-half years, our nation has acted decisively
to confront great challenges. I came to this office to solve problems,
and not pass them on to future presidents and future generations.
(Applause.) I came to seize opportunities and not let them slip away.
This administration is meeting the test of our time. (Applause.)

Terrorists declared war on the United States of America, and war is
what they got. We've captured or killed many of the key leaders of the
al Qaeda network that orchestrated the attacks on America on September
the 11th, 2001. And the rest of them know we're on their trail. In
Afghanistan and Iraq, we gave ultimatums to terror regimes. Those
ultimatums chose to -- those regimes chose defiance, and those regimes
are no more. (Applause.)

Fifty-million people in those two countries once lived under
tyranny; and now they live in freedom. Two-and-a-half years ago, our
military was not receiving the resources it needed, and morale was
beginning to suffer. So we increased the defense budget to prepare for
the threats of a new era. And today no one in the world can question
the skill and the strength and the spirit of the United States
military. (Applause.)

Two-and-a-half years ago we inherited an economy in recession. And
then our country was attacked; and we began a march to war; we found
out some of our corporate citizens forgot to tell the truth -- all of
which affected the confidence of our country. But we acted. We passed
tough laws to hold corporate criminals to account. And to get the
economy going, we have twice led the United States Congress to pass
historic tax relief for the American people. (Applause.)

Here's what the Speaker and I know -- we know that when Americans
have more take-home pay to spend, save or invest, the whole economy
grows, and people are more likely to find a job. We understand whose
money we spend in Washington, D.C. We do not spend the government's
money; we spend the people's money. (Applause.) And so we're
returning more money to American families to help them meet their
needs. We're reducing the taxes on dividends and capital gains to
encourage investment. We give small businesses incentives to expand
and hire new people. With all these actions, we're laying the
foundations for greater prosperity and economic vitality, and more jobs
across America, so that every single one of our citizens is able to
realize the great promise of America.

Two-and-a-half years ago there was a lot of talk about education
reform, but there wasn't much action. So I acted. I called for, and
Congress passed, the No Child Left Behind Act. With a solid bipartisan
majority, we delivered the most dramatic education reforms in a
generation. We're bringing high standards and strong accountability to
every public school in America. See, we believe every child can learn
the basics of reading and math. That's what we believe. And we expect
every school to teach the basics of reading and math. (Applause.)

We are challenging the soft bigotry of low expectations.
(Applause.) In return for federal money, we expect results. The days
of excuse-making are over. We want every child to learn to read and
write and add and subtract, so that not one single child is left behind
in America. (Applause.)

We reorganized the government and created the Department of
Homeland Security to safeguard our borders and ports and to make the
American people more secure. We passed trade promotion authority to
open up new markets for Illinois' ranchers and farmers and
manufacturers and entrepreneurs. We passed budget agreements -- and,
Mr. Speaker, thank you for working on those -- to bring much needed
spending discipline to Washington, D.C. On issue after issue, this
administration has acted on principle, we have kept our word, and we
have made progress for the American people. (Applause.)

We have done a lot, and the Congress deserves a lot of the credit.
We have set out goals; we have met those goals, thanks in large part to
the leadership of Speaker Denny Hastert. He and Senator Bill Frist are
great leaders of the United States Congress. They work closely with
the administration. They've got one thing in mind; they want to work
with us to get rid of this needless partisan bickering that dominates
the Washington, D.C. landscape and the zero-sum politics of
Washington. And we can do that by not only working to change the tone
in Washington, but by focusing on results -- by saying, here's what
we're going to do, and then go out and do it. Speaker Hastert, you are
a great leader of the House of Representatives of the United States.
(Applause.)

I've asked good people to join my administration, people who are,
as well, working to change the tone in Washington -- good, solid
citizens who are there to serve something greater than themselves; good
people like Don Rumsfeld, who was educated right here in this part of
the -- of our country. (Applause.) Now, I've got a strong team, solid
Americans from all walks of life. Our country has had no finer Vice
President than Dick Cheney. (Applause.) Mother may have a different
opinion. (Laughter.)

Now, we've done a lot in two-and-a-half years. We've come far, but
our work is only beginning. I have set great goals worthy of a great
nation. First, America is committed to expanding the realm of freedom
and peace for our own security and for the benefit of the world. And
second, in our own country, we must work for a society of prosperity
and compassion, so that every citizen has a chance to work and to
succeed and to realize the American Dream. It is clear that the future
of freedom and peace depend on the actions of America. This nation is
freedom's home, and we are freedom's defender. We welcome this charge
of history, and we are keeping it. (Applause.)

Our war on terror continues. The enemies of freedom, those who
hate America, are not idle -- and neither are we. This country will
not rest, we will not tire, and we will not stop until this danger to
civilization is removed. (Applause.)

We're confronting that danger in Iraq, where Saddam holdouts and
foreign terrorists are desperately trying to throw Iraq into chaos by
attacking coalition forces and aid workers and innocent Iraqis. They
know that the advance of freedom in Iraq would be a major defeat in the
cause of terror. This collection of killers is trying to shake the
will of America and the civilized world. But America will not be
intimidated. (Applause.)

Aggressively striking the terrorists in Iraq, we're defeating them
there so we don't have to face them in our own country. (Applause.)
We call on other nations to help build a free Iraq. We stand with the
Iraqi people as they assume more of their own defense and move towards
self-government. These aren't easy tasks, but they are essential
tasks. We will finish what we have begun, and we will win this
essential victory in the war on terror. (Applause.)

Yet out greatest security comes from the advance of human liberty,
because free nations do not support terror; free nations do not attack
their neighbors; free nations do not threaten the world with weapons of
mass terror. (Applause.) Americans believe that freedom is the
deepest need and hope of every human heart. And I believe that freedom
is the right of every person, and that freedom is the future of every
nation. (Applause.)

America also understands that unprecedented influence brings
tremendous responsibilities. We have duties in the world. And when we
see disease and starvation and hopeless poverty, we will not turn
away. On the continent of Africa, America is now committed to bringing
the healing power, the healing power of medicine to millions of men and
women and children now suffering with AIDS. This great land, this
great strong and compassionate nation is leading the world in this
incredibly important work of human rescue.

We face challenges at home, as well. The Speaker knows that, and I
know it. And our actions will prove equal to those tasks. So long as
anybody in America who wants to work is looking for a job, I will work
hard to make the conditions for economic growth positive and strong. I
want our people working in America. (Applause.)

We have other duties, as well. We have a duty to keep our
commitment to America's seniors by strengthening and modernizing
Medicare. (Applause.) Congress took historic action to improve the
lives of older Americans. For the first time since the creation of
Medicare, the House and the Senate have passed reforms to increase the
choices for our seniors and to provide coverage for prescription
drugs. The next step is for both Houses to reconcile their
differences, to iron out the details and get a bill to my desk. The
sooner they finish the job, the sooner we can say, we have done our
duty to America's seniors. (Applause.)

And for the sake of our health care system, we need to cut down on
the frivolous lawsuits which increase the cost of medicine.
(Applause.) People who have been harmed by a bad doc deserve their day
in court. Yet the system should not reward lawyers who are simply
fishing for rich settlements. (Applause.) Frivolous lawsuits drive up
the cost of health care, and therefore, they affect the federal
budget. Medical liability reform is a national issue which requires a
national solution.

And so I proposed a good bill -- and I worked with the Speaker on
it -- we passed a good bill out of the House of Representatives. But
the bill is stuck in the Senate. And the Senate must act on behalf of
the American people. Those senators must understand that no one has
ever been healed by a frivolous lawsuit. (Applause.)

I have a responsibility to make sure the judicial system runs well,
and I have met that duty. I've nominated superb men and women for our
federal courts, people who interpret the law, not legislate from the
bench. Some members of the Senate are trying to keep my nominees off
the bench by blocking up or down votes. Every judicial nominee
deserves a fair hearing and an up or down vote on the Senate floor. It
is time for some of the members of the United States Senate to stop
playing politics with American justice. (Applause.)

Congress needs to complete work on a comprehensive energy plan.
The Speaker knows this -- and, Mr. Speaker, I appreciate your
leadership on this issue. As we learned a while ago, we need to
modernize our electricity grid. (Laughter.) We need to bring it up
to the standards of the 21st century. We need to make sure that the
delivery of electricity is not a voluntary act. It's a -- requires
mandatory reliability standards. We need to make sure we do a better
job of using our technologies to conserve more energy. We need to
develop alternative sources to foreign oil. We need clean coal
technology. One of the things we need to do is, for economic security
and national security, to become less dependent on foreign sources of
energy. (Applause.)

Our strong and prosperous nation must also be a compassionate
nation. I will continue to advance our agenda of compassionate
conservatism, applying the most innovative ideas to the task of helping
our fellow citizens in need. There are millions of men and women who
want to end their dependence on government, become independent through
hard work. We must build on the success of welfare reform, to bring
work and dignity into the lives of more of our fellow citizens.

Congress should complete the citizen service act, so more Americans
can serve their communities and their country. And both Houses should
finally reach agreement on my faith-based initiative to support the
armies of compassion, which exist all around our country, that are
mentoring out children, that are caring for the homeless, that offer
hope to addicted. This great nation should not fear faith. It should
not fear those who rely upon faith as their motivation to provide help
to those who hurt. We need to welcome faith in our society.
(Applause.)

A compassionate society must promote opportunity for all, including
the independence and dignity that come from ownership. See, this
administration will constantly strive to promote an ownership society
in America. We want more people owning their own home. We want people
owning and managing their health care accounts. We want people owning
and managing their own retirement accounts. We want more people owning
a small business, because we understand that when a person owns
something, he or she has a vital stake in the future of our country.
(Applause.)

In a compassionate society, people respect one another and take
responsibility for the decisions they make. We're changing the culture
of America from one that has said, if it feels good, just go ahead and
do it, and if you've got a problem, blame somebody else -- to a culture
in which each of us understands we are responsible for the decisions we
make in life. If you are fortunate enough to be a mom or a dad, you're
responsible for loving your child. (Applause.) If you're concerned
about the quality of the education in the community in which you live,
you're responsible for doing something about it. If you're a CEO in
corporate America, you're responsible for telling the truth to your
shareholders and your employees. (Applause.) And in the new
responsibility society, each of us is responsible for loving our
neighbor just like we would like to be loved ourselves.

We can see the culture of service and responsibility growing around
us here in America. You know, I started what's called the USA Freedom
Corps to encourage Americans to extend a compassionate hand to a
neighbor in need, and the response has been really strong. People
want to serve. People want to be involved in their community. Our
faith-based and charities are strong, providing the much needed healing
to those who need help. Policemen and firefighters and people who wear
our nation's uniform are reminding us what it means to sacrifice for
something greater than yourself.

Once again, the children of America believe in heroes, because they
see them every day. In these challenging times, the world has seen the
resolve and the courage of America. And I've been privileged to see
the compassion and the character of the American people.

All the tests of the last two-and-a-half years have come to the
right nation. We're a strong country, and we use that strength to
defend the peace. We're an optimistic country, confident in ourselves
and in ideals bigger than ourselves. Abroad, we seek to lift whole
nations by spreading freedom. At home, we seek to lift up lives by
spreading opportunity to every corner of America. This is the work
that history has set before us, and we welcome it. And we know that
for our country, and for our cause, the best days lie ahead.